“If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that. All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.” (1 John 5:16-17)

I learned Romans 3:23 along with my three little pigs, so this verse has always perplexed me. What on earth is John talking about?? Did he not read Romans?

To be honest, I’m not entirely sure. But this is how I am currently applying it in my life…

I take for granted that prayer is always necessary. It is an assumed constant in the Christian life. God told us to pray without ceasing. And according to John, sometimes when you see sin, your action point is to pray. That’s it. Scripture tells us that love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8). Many, many times we just pray God’s mercy and continue along the journey with others.

In some situations, it may not be any of our business to get involved beyond intercession. “Like one who grabs a dog by the ears is a passerby who meddles in a quarrel not his own” (Proverbs 26:17). Over involving ourselves in others’ sin can also be an attempt at playing God. Like children who try to parent or punish each other, we can try to play the Holy Spirit, commenting on every misstep of our spiritual siblings. As if God even parents that way. He doesn’t give us a play by play commentary on the morality of our every action. He enters into relationship with us–in all of our mess and sin–and trains us in a better way. You and I are such frequent sinners that, of necessity, a lot just gets passed over and dealt with in the larger process of sanctification.

But then there are the sins that lead to death. And we are not to pray about those. Is God forbidding us to pray for really bad sinners? I don’t think so. Jesus told us to pray for our enemies and He prayed for the religious leaders who were mocking Him as He hung on the cross. You’d be hard pressed to find bigger villains in Scripture.

No, I think what it means is this: there are sins where prayer is not the action point. There are situations where action is required and prayer is just assumed. So, for example: if my neighbour is beating his wife, or my brother is looking at images of child rape, or a police officer is slowly squeezing the life out of a man… prayer is not the action point. 

George Floyd has been on my mind recently. Next week marks a year since his murder. The systemic racism that took his life, and that of so many others, requires a response of action. When this first started dawning on me, I remember feeling paralyzed. I knew that in-action was not an option, but I had no idea what to actually do. I am incredibly grateful for Latasha Morrison at Be The Bridge for the guidance that one necessary first action was to educate myself. As I have taken that action, further actions have become clear to me. Funny how it works that way. Almost like… walking by faith or something:).